Saudi royal behind al-Yamamah arms deal held in crackdown on corruption

Many officials are reportedly being held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in RiyadhGIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images

Saudi Arabia’s young crown prince has ordered the arrest of a cousin, as part of efforts to retrieve millions of dollars allegedly paid in bribes to seal Britain’s biggest arms deal.

Sources in Riyadh told The Times that one of the 208 princes, ministers and officials detained last weekend was Prince Turki bin Nasser, the man tasked with buying fighter jets from Britain as part of the $43 billion al-Yamamah deal between Saudi Arabia and BAE Systems, the British defence group.

Officials said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who now has total power and is using it to overhaul the way Saudi Arabia has been run for a century, believes that more than $100 billion of Saudi funds have been stolen by senior royals,…

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